MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A suburban Minneapolis high school senior who was suspended for seven weeks for tweeting - jokingly, he says - that he had kissed a teacher is transferring.
Reid Sagehorn, who was an honors student and star athlete at Rogers High School, spoke publicly for the first time about his suspension to the Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/1hKmTD7 ). Sagehorn, who was captain of the football and basketball teams, said he only meant the tweet as a joke when he responded “actually yes” to an anonymous post online asking if he ever kissed a 28-year-old gym teacher at his school.
Sagehorn, 17, said he’s had anxiety attacks since his suspension began. He also spoke of the lessons he has learned.
“I think it’s definitely important that everybody who has heard about the story know how sincerely sorry I am,” he said. “No matter how I meant it, (it) doesn’t matter,” he said of his tweet, which appeared on the now-defunct “Rogers Confessions” page on ask.fm.
Sagehorn said he has sent a letter of apology to the teacher, who hasn’t spoken publicly about the incident.
“I never meant to hurt anybody,” he said.
Elk River School District officials suspended Sagehorn for violating the conduct code for social media.
The local police chief initially said Sagehorn could be charged with felony defamation, but the Hennepin County attorney’s office said that after reviewing the police report, it determined that Sagehorn hadn’t committed a crime.
Sagehorn didn’t disclose where he would begin school Monday.
___
Information from: Star Tribune, https://www.startribune.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.